Did Elon Musk unwittingly expose his alt Twitter account, or are we being trolled again?

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Oh heeeeeey. We're back with another crunchy edition of our Tues-daily Crunch. With Early Stage behind us, we're setting our sights on our Disrupt event that's coming up — and Alex just shared the agenda for the Builders Stage. Come check it out — and get your tickets for Disrupt sooner rather than later! Our favorite story this morning was Rebecca admitting she actually had fun at Fatboy Slim's metaverse rave, and now we're regretting that we missed it. — Christine and Haje Image Credits: Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3 This is only a test: Yesterday, Elon Musk tweeted a photo of his Twitter account, which seemed to show Musk also logged into another account that looked like @ErmnMusk with the name "Elon Test." Is this a burner account? We don't know. Amanda has more. Another car bites the dust: When other carmakers are saying "the more the merrier" when it comes to building electric vehicles, General Motors is "bolt"ing for the door on a few of its models. Kirsten reports that GM is killing off both the Chevy Bolt and Bolt EUV in favor of other EVs. Fly me to the moon: Aria and Devin have been monitoring ispace, a Japanese company that attempted to land on the moon for the first time. Unfortunately, ispace lost contact with its lunar lander just moments before it was supposed to make the landing.

Startups and VC Data is becoming as precious as water in precision agriculture, and Hydrosat aims to help provide both with a new set of Earth-observation satellites, Stefanie reports. The company has raised a $20 million Series A round, including $5 million in non-dilutive funding, which should put the first two thermal infrared satellites into orbit. Survey a lot of industrial warehouses and you'll see a lot of cages. It's a safety thing — effectively a way of ensuring that robots don't accidentally hurt people. They're big, fast and made of metal. We're small, squishy and don't always look where we should, Brian explains. It's not a perfect solution, but it's the best we've had for a long time — until robotics safety firm Veo raised $29 million, with help from Amazon, that is. Heavy on the AI news today. Here's a fistful of tasty snacks for ya: Hard on the brakes: Mary Ann reports that RapidAPI, valued at $1 billion last year, cuts staff by 50%. In summary…: News app Artifact can now summarize stories using AI, including in fun styles such as “explain it like I'm five,” or just in emoji, Sarah reports. Now here you go again, you say you want your freedom. Well, who am I to keep you down?: AI app Petey uses ChatGPT to make Apple Music playlists for you, Sarah reports. AI takes to the big blue sea: Catherine reports that Greywing's new SeaGPT solves email overwhelm for maritime crew managers. I bet that'll pay off: Yahoo acquires social sports betting app Wagr, reports Paul.

How to pitch me: 5 investors discuss what they're looking for in April 2023 Walter Thompson asked five investors to share some frank advice for first-timers and found that most aspiring founders are probably not yet ready to pitch an investor. If you haven't spoken to scores of customers, or created a contact spreadsheet for at least 25 investors who've backed companies like yours, for example, it's too soon. And if your team added "AI" to the pitch deck to make it more appealing, here's some more bad news: FOMO is passé, and due diligence is the new black. Here's who participated in this month's investor Q&A: Rudina Seseri, founder and managing partner, Glasswing Ventures Patrick Salyer, partner, Mayfield Fund Josh Constine, venture partner, SignalFire Alexa von Tobel, managing partner, Inspired Capital Oren Yunger, partner, GGV Capital Three more from the TC+ team: Erm, where are the exits?: Alex observes that for the VC/startup ecosystem to work, we need exits, and big ones. He argues that it's beyond time we started worrying about unicorn exits. You're making a mess of it…: Tim asks, “How much does your company pollute?” and explores how CarbonChain's $10 million Series A is here to help answer that very question. The dominoes, they wobble: First Republic's results are proof that the SVB meltdown was brutal for smaller banks, writes Alex. TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! Read More Image Credits: MirageC / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. Mark Zuckerberg announced that WhatsApp is rolling out multi-device support, and users can log into the same WhatsApp account on up to four phones, Ivan reports. Meta has been testing this feature since 2021. Meanwhile, Kyle writes that in pursuit of "safer" text-generating models, Nvidia released a toolkit called NeMo Guardrails to make AI-powered apps more "accurate, appropriate, on topic and secure." And we have five more for you: We're not gonna take it: That's what crypto exchange Coinbase is saying. Coinbase sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission so that the SEC would respond to a months-old petition asking whether the securities regulator would allow the industry to be regulated using existing SEC frameworks. Manish has more. Join or else: India is promoting the adoption of its open e-commerce network and wants e-commerce giants to join in. It won't take no for an answer and is prepared to put the "full force of the government" behind the efforts, Manish writes. Report or else: Nineteen platforms must report algorithmic risks under Europe's Digital Services Act. Natasha L has more. Free fallin': In Spotify news, Paul reports that the streaming music giant now has more than 500 million users, but the number of paid subscribers is shrinking. Then Sarah takes a deeper dive into the company's first-quarter earnings. She writes that Spotify's CEO said AI progress is both "really cool and scary," and may pose a risk to the creative industry. Chat GPT everything, everywhere, all at once: Kyle wrote two stories about ChatGPT, including how OpenAI previews its business plan for ChatGPT, while Hugging Face releases its own version of ChatGPT. Meanwhile, Connie reports that so many entities want to bank off the term "GPT" that it may be trademarked soon if OpenAI has its way.

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App Store reviews and social media depict user backlash against Snapchat’s new AI chatbot

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall and Haje Jan Kamps Monday, April 24, 2023

As Twitter continues its absolutely farcical march toward its own demise, we are grabbing the popcorn to watch the fire blaze. In other news: Happy Monday, folks! — Christine and Haje Image Credits: Denis Charlet / AFP / Getty Images

The TechCrunch Top 3 Well blue check you out: Twitter users with over 1 million followers got their blue check marks back, even if they didn't pay for Twitter Blue, Ivan reports. It's interesting to note that many of the account holders were quick to separate themselves from being subscribers. Maybe it also has something to do with Twitter giving a gold check mark to a fake Disney account. Ivan has more on that. No th-AI-nks: That's what Snapchat users are saying about its "My AI" feature, which launched last week. Sarah writes that the social media giant is seeing a spike in one-star reviews, which include calling for its removal. To be Near you: At a time when there is a wave of doubt about cryptocurrency, Cosmose, a company that uses AI analytics to track in-store foot traffic and engage with shoppers online, is going all in on the digital currency. Rita reports that Cosmose, which recently closed on an undisclosed round of funding to value it at $500 million, is now working with Near's crypto solution. Even dropping Stripe to do so. It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for ’em.

Startups and VC Super.com, formerly Snapcommerce, launched its cash-back card SuperCash last October so that card users could build credit, amassing 5 million customers worldwide who have collectively saved over $150 million to date, according to CEO Hussein Fazal. Now it has its sights set on helping "everyday Americans" find deals and savings across multiple categories, including travel and shopping, via its super app, Christine reports. Silicon Valley's quest to automate everything is unceasing, which explains its latest obsession: Auto-GPT. In essence, Auto-GPT uses the versatility of OpenAI's latest AI models to interact with software and services online, allowing it to "autonomously" perform tasks like X and Y. But as we are learning with large language models, this capability seems to be as wide as an ocean but as deep as a puddle, Kyle reports. Go on, another handful for ya: They just want to stay involvo: Frederic reports that Volvo Cars Tech Fund invests in driver monitoring startup CorrActions. I'll give you a ring in a bit: Brian reports on a big partnership win for Oura, as Best Buy brings the smart ring to 850 stores across the U.S. You build it, you get paid: More construction projects are being started, but payments to contractors and their subcontractors continue to cause a bottleneck in the normal course of completing a project. Constrafor raises new capital to make that better, Christine reports. Stiff competition: Woodoo is creating decarbonized wood-based materials, reports Romain. Last impressions matter: Over on TC+, Haje argues that for your pitch deck, last impressions count almost as much as first impressions. Making IP an asset: Also for TC+, Haje took a closer look at Aventurine, which helps early-stage founders make money off their IP portfolios, in what the accelerator hopes will be a perpetual fund, powered by intellectual property licensing.

10 years of fintech failure: 3 more ideas that failed to live up to the initial hype Do you remember P2P lending and on-demand insurance? If not, there’s a good reason: Despite a lot of hype, they’re just two of several fintech innovations that fizzled over the last decade. For his latest TC+ column, fintech consultant Grant Easterbrook examined three more ideas “that initially seemed promising, but largely failed to change the financial services industry.” According to Easterbrook, these misfires offer valuable lessons to today’s founders and investors: “Fintech entrepreneurs must remember the essential principle that the average consumer doesn't like thinking about money and often wants someone else to take care of it.” Three more from the TC+ team: Well that's looking pretty skinny there: Alex wonders what happens when the revenue multiples keep shrinking. Precision fermentation is more like cultivated meat than we think: Blake Byrn calls BS on precision fermentation's capacity craze. How the humble DVD unlocked a multibillion-dollar business: Haje explores how technology unlocks business models in the story of Netflix. TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! Read More Image Credits: TommL / Getty Images

Big Tech Inc. Merchants have a lot of things to deal with when it comes to running their businesses, but Shopify wants to take one thing off their plate. Shopify is working with B2B payments provider Melio to add direct bill payments so that they can consolidate invoices and pay their bills in a more automated way via Shopify's platform. Mary Ann writes that this is the e-commerce platform's "bid to be a single-stop fintech for merchants." Ring, ring…guess who's calling? It's PhonePe, and the company is out to challenge Google's dominance in India with an app store of its own. The Walmart-backed company is offering a "premiere experience for millions of users with high-quality advertisements and custom targeting, support for 12 languages and 24×7 live chat," Manish reports. And we have five more for you: App-solutely: Apple's having a good day. Sarah reports that Apple wins its antitrust court battle with Epic Games that involved App Store policies. Then, Jagmeet writes that Apple captured nearly half of the global refurbished smartphone market. Get your logins in sync: If you're a fan of Google Authenticator, the service now has a new feature to sync two-factor authentication codes to the cloud, Kyle reports. As seen on TV: Avid users of YouTube TV say the streaming "Force" isn't always so strong with that one, but the company is now experimenting with picture quality enhancements, Lauren reports. Now you can Bonus BeReal across the pond: Bonus BeReal comes to the U.K., enabling users to post more than once a day, writes Amanda. ICYMI: On Friday, a California court ruled that Tesla was not at fault for an Autopilot crash that took place in 2019. Kirsten has more.

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Starting today, Twitter says all advertisers must obtain verified accounts

TechCrunch Newsletter

By Christine Hall Friday, April 21, 2023

Hey, TechCrunchers, happy Friday. I hope this is your favorite time of day because Haje and I really enjoy bringing you the news of the day written by the fabulous people we are honored to call colleagues. If you were at TechCrunch Early Stage in Boston, we trust you had a good time. Haje is coming back from there, so it's just me again today. Let's dig in. — Christine Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

The TechCrunch Top 3 This is what happens when the blue check marks go away: Have we got some Twitter news for you today. Twitter seemingly now requires all advertisers to have a verified checkmark, Paul reports. You might recall from yesterday that Twitter removed the legacy blue check marks, and Taylor wrote about the chaos that reigned afterward. Another change that happened was that Twitter removed the "government-funded" news labels after NPR and others fought back, Amanda reports. The Bard has new skills: In response to user demand, Google's Bard AI chatbot can now help software developers with programming, including the ability to generate and debug code. Kirsten has more. Put some energy into it: Helping European homeowners heat old homes in a more energy-efficient way has given startups a way to show off their skills. Investors were so attracted to what startup Enter was doing with home energy assessments that they injected €19.4 million of Series A capital into the company so it could expand in Germany and elsewhere, Mike reports.

Startups and VC Imitating the real data: Singapore-based Betterdata took in $1.55 million to take a different approach to traditional data sharing methods by using synthetic data to keep real data safe, Catherine reports. Driving toward something new: Autotech Ventures is venturing into new territory with a $230 million mobility fund that will add fintech and the circular economy to its investment strategy, writes Kirsten. Taking the plunge: Founders Pledge, a charitable initiative in London, launched a venture capital arm called Pledge Ventures in what Mike writes is to "create a new 'flywheel' in philanthropy." Listen to this: Brian shares all the feels about first learning of headphone startup Nura, which he reports got acqui-hired by Masimo, the parent company of electrics company Denon.

Pitch Deck Teardown: Honeycomb's $50M Series D deck Startups that raise Series D rounds might have hundreds of employees, tens of millions in ARR and other proof points that demonstrate they've reduced risk, but they still need pitch decks. Honeycomb, which describes itself as a "debugger for live production systems," shared its winning $50 million Series D pitch deck with TechCrunch: Cover slide Data summary snapshot slide Problem slide Solution slide Competitive landscape slide Product category overview slide Customer landscape slide part 1 (mostly redacted) Customer landscape slide part 2 (mostly redacted) Market positioning slide Value proposition slide History/product timeline slide Go-to-market interstitial slide GTM: Land-and-expand approach slide GTM: Gaming vertical slide Going Forward interstitial slide Team slide The Ask slide Closing slide Two more from the TC+ team: Cloudy skies ahead: Even after the billions of dollars spent by companies to put their data in the cloud, they have to shell out even more when there is cloud downtime. That's why Anna tells you everything you need to know about cloud outage insurance. Chip off the old block: Kyle ponders if there is a future in light-powered AI chips. TechCrunch+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams get ahead of the pack. You can sign up here. Use code "DC" for a 15% discount on an annual subscription! Read More Image Credits: Honeycomb

Big Tech Inc. Lyft layoffs: Ride-hailing company Lyft confirmed it is cutting its workforce by 1,200 as part of a restructuring effort meant to "better meet the needs of riders and drivers," Kirsten reports. The layoffs will affect corporate employees, of which there are about 4,000, because Lyft doesn't employ its drivers. We learn something new every day: The Linux Foundation launched a new organization to maintain TLA+, Kyle writes. If you're doing one of those "learn one new term a day," here's your education for the day: TLA+ is a formal "spec" language, developed by computer scientist and mathematician Leslie Lamport, for designing, modeling, documenting and verifying software programs. Strike that: Sarah reports that in an effort to find a faster resolution to its antitrust legal battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games, Match Group and state attorneys general, Google is asking the court to dismiss multiple claims, five to be exact, that "would seemingly be pivotal to the plaintiffs' ability to prove anticompetitive behavior." Four corners of the globe, literally: The Internal Revenue Service is sending four investigators across the world to fight cybercrime, Lorenzo reports. Before you go, "Just four?" I'll throw in there that the IRS previously only had one. Denied: Meta was trying to have its content moderator case dismissed in Kenya, but now has to muddle through it. A court ruled that Meta can be sued over alleged unlawful sacking and blacklisting of moderators. Annie has more.

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